I am a big believer in 'gut health' and a tea by the name of kombucha has been recommended as 'better than probiotics' in populating gut flora. I was wondering if anyone here has any experience with it?

__________________Cathy
Original start - Feb. 2000 180/125

"The energy content of food (calories) matters, but it is less important than the metabolic effect of food on our body." Dr. P. Attia

I love Kombucha and have been drinking it for years. I don't drink more than 1/2 bottle a day now if I buy it though because I am keeping my carbs to a minimun till I lose another 15 or 20 lbs. I think it's wonderful goodness!

It sounds as if there is a prepared drink ...??? I have a small bottle (250ml or 1 cup) that I bought at a health food store and it suggests mixing 4 tsp. into salad dressing, tea or something like that.

__________________Cathy
Original start - Feb. 2000 180/125

"The energy content of food (calories) matters, but it is less important than the metabolic effect of food on our body." Dr. P. Attia

Mmmm I love kombucha! I brewed my own for years but my culture got so big I was brewing 24 wine bottles every 2 weeks. I ended up stopping for a bit and never got back into yet since I wasnt sure how it would fit into my l/c life style.

The prepared kombucha tea I purchase is by Synergy. Found in the refrigerator section of my local grocery store health food section. They have several flavors and so far they are all good. It is pricey, on sale 2 for $5, but since I mix it, 1/4 bottle with sparkling water, I don't worry about it too much. And then I only drink it once in awhile since it does contain carbs.

I could become seriously addicted to it, but it is expensive. Mostly a summer treat for me.

I make my own and it's about 12 1/2 cents per serving. I drink about 8 ounces a day. All you need to make a gallon are 6 tea bags, (I use green organic, but white tea is the best), filtered water (Britta), sugar (yes, I said sugar, I use organic) and a kombucha scoby.

You get scobies from other people, they look like creatures from the black lagoon. You can buy one commercially, but they're the later ones, from 2010, where the FDA made manufacturers change the formula. There are facebook pages where people sell or trade them. Not here.

I heat up maybe a quart and a half of water to boiling, add the sugar (one cup) and tea and let it cool down then add to a glass container, and fill the rest of the way up with cool, filtered water. No metal from here on out.

Then add scoby and let sit for about a week to ten days. The scoby should form a new scoby on top of it. After that, take the scoby out, put in a 'hotel', a non metal container with water or kombucha enough to keep it from drying out until you want to use it again. For the new kombucha to form, the temperature should be around 80 degrees farenheit. I use a heating pad or a hot water bottle in the winter.

The kombucha is now ready to drink. It should not taste sweet because the kombucha eats the sugar and the caffeine from the tea.

Most people like to do a second ferment. That's when you flavor it. So, after a week or so, I add fruit to it. The possibilities are endless at this point. The scoby is not in the kombucha at this time; it ferments without it.

This past time, I peeled 4 navel oranges and processed them and then strained them, first through a food strainer and then through a tea infuser and added the juice to the gallon container.

Then, I poured the kombucha into individual bottles and put the lids on. I use the kombucha bottles that I got at the health food store. They were expensive because they had kombucha in them. They have no metal lids and they wash up very nicely. A lot of people use the Grolsch beer bottles with the stoppers. They're fine, too.

I "burp" the bottles every day, to release excess gas. When you close the lid and prevent oxygen from getting to the kombucha, it starts becoming carbonated. You can drink the kombucha now, if you want. Some people let it ferment for months, and that's their choice.

I don't have the room, so I just finish up what I have (pink grapefruit) until it's gone and then start on the orange that I made a few days ago. When I open up the bottles that have been sitting there for a couple of weeks, there's a new, healthy scoby at the top of the bottle and it tastes strong.

The kombucha in health food stores is fine, but it's the new scoby formulation. Better to get the old formulation that you can find online.

When people use kombucha for cleaning, etc., it's the really strong kind that has a scoby sitting in it for over a month and it's turned to vinegar and the scoby is about a half inch thick.

I hope this helps. Sometimes when you go online, you find people assume you know all about it and details get lost.

Terez, Do you think that we still get the goodness from the store bought Kombucha? I have yet to actually try to make this. I hear it is so much better when home brewed.

Sunday, I absolutely think there is goodness to the store bought. The gingerade I get from GT's is absolutely delicious. I have made homemade kombucha and I make water kefir and I think homemade and the store bought (at least the brand I am using) is really good and full of benefits. I always get the freshest bottle I can and am sure to drink it by the date on the cap.

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Good broth resurrects the dead. ~ South American Proverb

That's great! I have elderberries that grow in the back yard. It's about time to put them to some good use. Right now I'm finishing up a blueberry/dark cherry/cinnamon brew.

Sounds delicious!!!

I'm going to try some with pomegranate and some with acerola cherry and some with mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)... Going to have to get back to you on those once I get round to doing them all! I still have about 1.5 quarts of both the cranberry/acerola and the elderberry/acerola to finish. Next brew is on, but won't finish until about the 9th.

I should look into a continuous brewer once I return from my 2 week holiday in June!

__________________
Do as I say, not do as I do... DEFINITELY not do as I do!!!

I'm going to try some with pomegranate and some with acerola cherry and some with mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)... Going to have to get back to you on those once I get round to doing them all! I still have about 1.5 quarts of both the cranberry/acerola and the elderberry/acerola to finish. Next brew is on, but won't finish until about the 9th.
I should look into a continuous brewer once I return from my 2 week holiday in June!

Remember, a continuous brewer will have sweeter kombucha because you're always adding sugar and fruit to it. If you're not doing low carb, though, it shouldn't matter.

Is it ok if the SCOBY does not float on top? I just made a new batch of Kombucha to ferment, and my SCOBY is floating near the bottom of the jar! I put it in gently, but it decided this time it wanted to SCUBA!

Thanks for answering my question!

xx Mim

__________________
Do as I say, not do as I do... DEFINITELY not do as I do!!!

Mim, there's nothing wrong with a scoby that doesn't float. The only thing you have to worry about is if there is any green growth on or around the scoby. It's mold and you have to throw it all out and start over, including with a new scoby. They get yeasty, though, with a brown/gray film that you can sometimes wash off. But it's no problem.

E.W. I don't know about the chlorine killing off friendly bacteria, but when I make kombucha, or bone broth, or anything home brew, the directions say to use filtered water, to get rid of the chlorine.

Terez, thanks for the quick answer! I checked and now the SCOBY is vertically floating somewhere midway in my brew. There's a new one starting on top already! I thankfully don't have green stuff on my SCOBY, some brownish greyish threads hanging off it, but that's yeast so ok!

__________________
Do as I say, not do as I do... DEFINITELY not do as I do!!!